Invisible Geographies, an exhibition organized by critic Christophe Cox, presents four works that illuminate different facets of contemporary German sound art--a scene that has been tremendously influential since the 1970s. Aside from the national focus, what is unique about Invisible Geographies, amidst a wider burgeoning of sound art practice, are the diverse, large-scale installations of which it's comprised. Encompassing sculpture, video, light, and found objects, the four works by Jens Brand, Jan-Peter E.R. Sonntag, Stefan Rummel, and Christina Kubisch push far-flung edges of sound art's formal boundaries. They are linked by their common interest in physical or social dimensions of sound, and in their deft re-mapping of urban space. Kubisch presents three related projects under the heading 'New York Electrical Walk' that variously highlight, visualize and transform electro-magnetic sound waves the artist recorded in Times Square. A rough-hewn installation by Rummel made with found building materials and retired electronic equipment re-constitutes the space of the gallery according to its resident aural elements, putting echoes from hidden storage spaces in conversation with the humming of light fixtures. Gallery-goers can expect their senses will be re-tuned after a trip to Invisible Geographies, which will be reverberating at The Kitchen, in New York, through October 14th. - Lauren Cornell

Invisible Geographies, an exhibition organized by critic Christophe Cox, presents four works that illuminate different facets of contemporary German sound art--a scene that has been tremendously influential since the 1970s. Aside from the national focus, what is unique about Invisible Geographies, amidst a wider burgeoning of sound art practice, are the diverse, large-scale installations of which it's comprised. Encompassing sculpture, video, light, and found objects, the four works by Jens Brand, Jan-Peter E.R. Sonntag, Stefan Rummel, and Christina Kubisch push far-flung edges of sound art's formal boundaries. They are linked by their common interest in physical or social dimensions of sound, and in their deft re-mapping of urban space. Kubisch presents three related projects under the heading 'New York Electrical Walk' that variously highlight, visualize and transform electro-magnetic sound waves the artist recorded in Times Square. A rough-hewn installation by Rummel made with found building materials and retired electronic equipment re-constitutes the space of the gallery according to its resident aural elements, putting echoes from hidden storage spaces in conversation with the humming of light fixtures. Gallery-goers can expect their senses will be re-tuned after a trip to Invisible Geographies, which will be reverberating at The Kitchen, in New York, through October 14th. - Lauren Cornell

Mica Scalin of DVBlog and I have been invited to co-curate an upcoming video
show at City Without Walls in Newark, New Jersey. CWOW is a cool non-profit
space that is looking to become the place in New Jersey to go for new media.
Unlike most of the shows that I put together there is an entrance fee but
know it will be going to a good cause and that both Mica and I have agreed
to volunteer to help organize this for them.

In addition to a great exhibition they will also be putting together a
limited edition DVD and have plans to tour the exhibition.

I understand where you're coming from, Steve, but this statement sort
of reveals quite a bit of misunderstanding of both the culture and
attitude behind software engineering as it is actually practiced.
This is sort of a typical example of stereotypes that arise from a
lack of understanding across the divide between engineers and
artists ...

Today's "From the Archives" entry is the local paper's review of Andy Warhol's first solo exhibition, held at the legendary Ferus Gallery in the summer of 1962. The review, written by one Jack Smith (how fortuitous!), was published on July 23. It's worth reading in full, as the author can't quite believe his eyes, gets quotes from Irving Blum (in a review!), makes a discovery down the street, and then, as he innitially suspects of Warhol, plants his tongue "firmly in his cheek."

My search for understanding in our times led me the other morning to the Ferus Art Gallery on La Cienega Blvd., in Beverly Hills, to examine the exhibit there of the work of the young New York artist, Andy Warhol, in the field of Campbell's Soup.

Mr. Warhol's one-man show consists of 32 paintings of cans of this veneral company's familiar product. The paintings appear to be uncompromisingly faithful to detail.

Mr. Warhol's painting, "Turkey Vegetable," for example, is the twin of his equally honest "Chicken Noodle," except for the words "turkey vegetable" and "chicken noodle."

The total effect, I thought, was one of seeing perhaps more paintings of soup cans than one might care to see. I suspected for a moment, even, that Mr. Warhol might have had his tongue in his cheek.

But Irving Blum, the proprietor of the gallery, assured me that this was not the case.

This young fellow is deadline serious," said Blum of the artist. "And fresh as this moment."

Please feed (but don't fetishize) the participation

I'm feeling a bit squeamish about a lot of thelonelygirldiscussion going on this week, in the wake of the previously secret puppet masters' curtain call. As someone who designs participatory experiences, often games with a serial narrative component, I think it's really important that we stop and look at the kind of participation and engagement actually engendered by projects that purport to solicit the collaboration of the audience.

The intent was to allow fan response posted in the comment section of lonelygirl15's YouTube and MySpace pages to determine the direction of each subsequent episode [...] what the team calls "collaborative storytelling" [....]

Okay, fair enough. I'm all for collaborative storytelling. But I don't think it's right to accept this account of the kind of participation that happened during the lonelygirl project at face value. Today and yesterday I spent a lot of time reading through pretty much every single comment left on the lonelygirl videos, the space where the audience was purportedly invited to help decide and direct the course of the narrative. I would encourage anyone else interested in the currently much praised and hyped lonelygirl "community" to do the same. A great hub for doing this is here.

As the statistics on this traffic counter show, each lonelygirl video has roughly 1000-4000 comments, nearly all of them left before the puppet masters were unmasked. And I have to say this: the level of hate, mean-spiritendess, crudeness and often downright misogeny of the majority of them is impossible to ignore.

As we talk about the 'new art form' or 'participatory culture' aspects of this project, I ...

Join film festival prankster Ben Coonley and internet artist Marisa
Olson for an evening of "ubiquitous media:" PowerPoint presentation
send-ups, subversive Blogging, pro-sporting simulacra, and a host of
new media topsy-turveydom. By appropriating amateur technologies to
create innovative and amusing forms of entertainment, Ben and Marisa
give us a slice of "life as art," just maybe pointing out that the
kind of life our culture leads brings forth absurd new ways of
experiencing it. The program will consist of some never-
before-screened gems and a two-channel collaborative installation
specifically created for Monkey Town.